


Absolutely Smitten

by herecutie (realeyesrealize)



Series: Absolutely Smitten [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: (I'll add more specific tags as the story kicks off), Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Butch!Louis, Eventual Smut, F/F, Girl Direction, Happy Ending, Slow Burn, Strangers to Friends to Lovers, femme!harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-09
Updated: 2018-07-09
Packaged: 2019-06-07 21:26:08
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15228210
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/realeyesrealize/pseuds/herecutie
Summary: Harry is a stressed-out University student with a habit of neglecting her friends by spending hours in the library, but when she meets her neighbour Louis, her world begins to expand past the campus limits. (And they might or might not fall in love in the process.)Featuring Niall as Harry's best friend and terrible roommate, Liam as Niall's co-worker and friend, and Zayn as Louis's confidant.





	Absolutely Smitten

**Author's Note:**

> This is part of a Wordplay prompt challenge that a group of us are participating in for the prompt "Need". To read the amazing fics that were written by the others on this prompt, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/need/works), and to see all fics written as part of the challenge, [click here](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/wordplay_fic_challenge/works) or find the masterpost for this year’s challenge here.
> 
> My aim is to finish this fic within five weeks, posting a chapter each week inspired by the prompt. This is an introductory chapter, so expect the next ones to be much longer (hopefully.)

Harry was frustrated, she was frustrated out of her mind. She took off her wet raincoat and set it on one of the stools by the kitchen isle, as she mentally cursed her roommate for well, existing. After having spent eight hours in the library, all she’d been thinking about was ordering some Chinese take out and watching an episode of Game of Thrones in bed until the exhaustion she was already feeling got the best of her. But all her plans had been cancelled when she walked in and found the flat was a _mess_. 

She walked to the bathroom after taking off her boots, eager to take off the little makeup she had on that hadn’t been completely erased by the rain, careful not to step on the many items of clothing that were scattered all over the floor. But when she walked in to the little room, she was affronted by one of Niall’s thongs on the sink, just sitting on top of the faucet as if it was its rightful place. If anyone had asked her any other day if she was sad Niall was leaving for a two week holiday, she probably would have answered yes. But now? She couldn’t wait for her to leave already. 

“NIALL!” she called out. She knew Niall would be able to hear her without even having to yell, her room being the one right next to the bathroom, but she just needed to let out her frustrations somehow. It felt cathartic.

The door to Niall’s room opened and she stepped out, only wearing a tiny transparent thong. Now, Harry couldn’t care less about Niall’s nudity, she’d seen all the goods plenty of times and in various situations (like _that_ night during their first year when Niall wanted to be sure about her heterosexuality and it turned out that she was very much not straight at all. That only happened once, though.) but what she did care about was the horrid smell that came out of the room. It smelt like a perfume shop, but an abandoned, illegal one were all the perfumes were gone off and the police had had to cordon off the area within a two mile radius. 

“Oh, good, you’re here,” Niall said. “I need help. Which one do you think smells better, this one” she stuck one of her wrists right under Harry’s nose “or this one?” she moved her arm a bit so now it was her forearm under Harry’s nose. 

Harry tried. She really tried to distinguish between the two, but all she could smell was an amalgamation of scents that made her want to puke. 

“They smell exactly the same, Niall. How many perfumes have you even tried on?” she exclaimed, frustrated. 

Niall looked back at her sheepishly. “Uhm, well, all of mine. Grabbed some of yours too because you have all the expensive ones.” 

Harry wanted her to stop talking. She wanted Niall and the world to disappear until it was just her and her bed. In fact, she was going to do just that. 

“I can’t with you. Text me when you get to Cancun,” she said as she moved towards her room. 

“I wouldn’t go in there right now,” Niall called back behind her. 

Harry acted as if she hadn’t heard her and opened the door to her room anyway. As she had expected, her wardrobe looked like it had been torn apart, clothes all over the carpet and her bed. She took a deep sigh to calm her nerves, because otherwise she was ready to do unspeakable things to her roommate. 

“What have I ever done to you, Niall? Was it that time I made a joke about Irish people when we met? Are you punishing me for that now, four years later?” 

“I’ll clean it up, okay? Give me twenty minutes.” Niall was right behind her, on the door threshold. Harry was still staring at her room, at her precious bed which had been invaded by an Irish menace. She’d told her she could take whatever she wanted form her wardrobe for her holidays, but she certainly hadn’t expected to come home to _this_. Although she was definitely the one to blame in this situation, it wasn’t as if she didn’t know Niall already. 

Harry finally turned around and faced her. To be fair, she did look guilty. Harry appreciated that, but she really was too exhausted to be fully mindful of her feelings. She was starving, too, which did nothing to help the irritable mood she'd been in since lunch. 

She remembered then what her mum always used to say, that having something sweet made any situation better. Throwing out her previous idea of having some Chinese for dinner, Harry decided she needed some sugar in her system if she had to wait up for Niall to tidy up the flat, which could take up until a year, considering the state in which it was. 

“Okay, so here’s what we’re gonna do. I’m going to go bake myself some cupcakes, because I deserve them, and you’re going to clean everything up. Take whatever you need but just get the flat back to how it was. Sound good?” 

Niall nodded. 

“Great.” 

Tired as she was, she was determined to bake herself something nice. Maybe she could bake enough cupcakes for Niall to take with her to the airport. She was afraid of flying and the anxiety always made her hungry. Perhaps she could even take some to uni with her tomorrow. 

She didn’t even wait for Niall to leave before starting to take off her clothes. The feeling of freedom she got when she unclasped her bra was almost as good as an orgasm. She quickly pulled on some old crop top she had and some sleeping shorts she’d found on clearance at Victoria’s Secret last summer. Not even bothering to take an extra look, she walked out of the room while texting her mum for her lemon and poppy seed cupcake recipe, the one she used to make for her birthdays. It reminded Harry of big parties at her grandparents’ house with all her school friends, the chilly February air enveloping them as they played in the garden. 

Her mum replied instantly, texting her a picture of Grandma Cox’s old recipe book. Harry had wanted to scan it and print it for her own use since she moved out, but she never got around to it whenever she was back home, even though it was objectively fairly close and she could pop by whenever she wanted. But uni was hard, and more often than not she found herself swimming in essays, assignments and mandatory readings that took up most of her time. 

Making a mental note to go visit her mum and Robin at some point next time she was free, she started placing the ingredients on the countertop. Harry was very meticulous about this process; if working in a bakery during her formative years had taught her anything, it was that preparation is key. Even if she technically wasn’t allowed to bake, the handful of times Barbara let her help on the kitchen when they were understaffed, that was what she always repeated, “Preparation is key, Harry. You don’t want to go running around the kitchen covered in flour because you forgot the vanilla extract.” 

Eager as she was to start mixing the ingredients, a pretty critical issue immediately arose. They were out of sugar. Now, Harry knew she had a tendency to blame whatever happened to her on the wrongdoings of others, but this time it _really_ was Niall’s fault. Again. She looked at the little whiteboard they had stuck on the fridge that Harry had bought for exactly this reason. They took turns doing the weekly shopping and each wrote what they needed on the whiteboard. Harry always bought everything that was on the board. Niall, however, she liked to get a little creative, meaning that she bought some necessary things and mostly unnecessary food that usually ended up getting eaten anyway, because they were students and they couldn’t afford to go back. 

“Niall!” 

Niall efficiently showed up at the kitchen seconds later, this time wearing a t-shirt that said Can’t Think Straight in big blue, purple and pink letters. 

“What?”

“We’re out of sugar,” she said while she pointed to the whiteboard, where sugar was conveniently written and underlined for emphasis. (Thanks, past Harry). 

“Oh, shit. And Tesco’s already closed. I’m so sorry, babe,” she replied, guilt in her voice. 

“It’s okay. Dunno what to do now, though.” 

“You know what? I’m sure Lou has some.” She pointed to the front door to the right of the kitchen, as if that was going to provide Harry with any information as to who the hell Lou was. 

“Who’s Lou?” 

“Louis, our neighbour. She moved in like three weeks ago?” Harry shook her head. “I told you about her! Liam and I have hung out with her a couple of times. Really cool girl.” 

In Niall’s defense, she probably did tell her about their new neighbour, but Harry had been so unbelievably busy that she’d basically been living at the library, only coming home late at night and going straight to bed. She was aware she had been neglecting her friends for the past two months, and Niall didn’t hide her frustration whenever she talked to her and Harry just nodded absentmindedly, nor did Liam with her overuse of exclamation points whenever Harry failed to reply to a text. She clearly was far from finding the perfect focus between working to perform well at uni and still having a life outside of it. But she was working on it, she really was. 

“You think she’ll have some?” 

“Won’t hurt to ask,” Niall pointed out. And she did have a point. 

“Right. I’ll go ask, then.” 

Niall nodded in reply and gave her two thumbs up. She started walking back to the lounge, which wasn’t really that far away, thanks to the open space layout that Harry absolutely loved. 

“Cool t-shirt, by the way!” 

Niall turned around and beamed at her. “Right?! I’m packing it, for sure.” 

*

Five minutes later Harry was standing in front of Louis’s door. She hadn’t even bothered to change into some more appropriate clothes because, if she was honest, she was too tired to even think about putting jeans back on. She wanted to bake her cupcakes, have a few and go to bed. Like, as soon as possible. She knocked on the door, careful to be loud enough but not too loud, because it was late and their left door neighbour was particularly sensitive to sound, as they’d been told in several occasions. Ironically, he had no qualms banging on their door for the silliest things, like Harry blending her morning smoothie. The blender had been conveniently placed on the opposite side of the kitchen after that, as apparently it shared a wall with Mr. Hennings’ living room. 

The door opened. 

Now, Harry didn’t know what she was expecting but she certainly wasn’t expecting _her_ , the most stunning girl to have ever crossed her path. Two ocean blue eyes looked at her curiously. Her face was framed by a caramel-coloured fringe that fell on her forehead and just made her look so _soft_. The sweatpants she was wearing certainly completed the vibe.

“Hi,” Harry said, at a loss of anything else to say that could explain her presence at Louis’s doorstep. She didn’t trust herself not to be an incoherent mess. 

“Hey,” Louis replied, a small smile playing on her lips. 

“I’m-” 

“Harry, I know. Niall showed me some pictures of you when she was drunk.” She laughed as she said it and small crinkles appeared by her eyes. Harry was a goner. 

“I hope she didn’t say anything too bad. She’s a bit of a loudmouth when she drinks.” 

“Nah, you’re fine. Quite the contrary, actually. Always rambles on about how amazing you are.” 

Harry beamed. Niall was her best friend for a reason, even if she was a terrible flatmate.

“She’s a good’un, that one.” Louis nodded in agreement and Harry stared a bit too long at the way her fringe moved. She wouldn’t be opposed to running her fingers through it at some point. A suspicious crash coming from her apartment broke her out of her reverie. “Anyway. Sorry to bother you so late, but I’m in a bit of a pickle. Do you happen to have some sugar, by any chance?” 

Louis ran inside her flat without even saying a word. Harry totally didn’t replay the way her arse looked in her sweatpants when she turned around as she waited. 

“I just bought some yesterday!” came Louis’s voice from the other side of the threshold. She came back with a bag of sugar in her hand. “Me mum’s coming to visit this week so I wanted to bake her something nice. Well, attempt to bake. ‘M a bit shit at the whole cooking thing, if I’m honest.” 

“Will you have enough, then. I don’t want to take it if it means your mum won’t get a cake,” Harry said truthfully. She really believed in the amazing psychological benefits of having cake. 

“Nah, it’s fine. Bought extra in case I butcher it, which will most likely happen.” She shrugged in a way that let on how convinced she was in that she was going to fuck it up. She then brought out her hand, insisting Harry took the sugar. She obliged. 

“I could help you,” Harry replied before she could even think about what she was saying. “I mean, if you want to, of course. I worked in a bakery so I’ve, like, got experience and stuff.” 

Louis seemed to bright up at Harry’s words. 

“You’d be doing me a huge favour. I really want to impress her, you know? First proper time she’s coming to see me since I moved out. It’s a big occasion.” 

“Oh, it’d be no problem! I love baking. Just knock on our door whenever you’re ready.” Then, Harry remembered that she probably wouldn’t be home when Louis knocked. “Although, now that I think of it, might be best if you text me? I’m not around much.” 

“Niall said. Gimme your number?” 

Harry told her her number as Louis saved it on her phone. 

“It’s a date, then,” Louis said when she finished. She was smiling so big and so kindly that Harry was left actually breathless, which may have also very well been because of Louis’s words. 

“It is. Anyway, thanks for the sugar. I’ll go-” She pointed to the door of their flat. 

“Yeah. Night, sweetcheeks.” She raised her eyebrows and nodded towards the sugar bag on Harry’s hand. 

Harry entered her flat again wondering how the hell she was even real. 

And that night, when she finally went to bed, her body running dangerously low on energy but mellowed out from the cupcakes, she couldn't help but dream about swimming in a big blue ocean that matched the colour of Louis's eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Kudos and comments are much appreciated, thank you very much x
> 
> [Please reblog on tumblr if you feel like it.](https://ladsbeingpals.tumblr.com/post/175723145124/absolutely-smitten-by-herecutie-25k-e-ff)


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